Confederacy of Upper Mliza
The Grand Confederacy of Upper Mliza (commonly just Upper or North Mliza) is an Orctovan state existing in the Fourth Age. Upper Mlizan society, as in many other Orctovan states, is divided into two broad social strata – the "free" class, which is primarily Dwarven and human in Upper Mliza, and the slave class, consisting almost entirely of orcs (however slavery, temporary or permanent, is a common punishment for crime). The climate of Upper Mliza is harsh compared to even that of other Orctovan nations. In the north, it is only sunny for a few weeks of the year at most, and the land is covered in snow for nearly 8 months. In the south, the climate is still harsh but much more livable (think Mongolia). The majority of the Upper Mlizan population lives in either the coastal West or the habitable south, though there are quite a few settlements in the north, mainly slave mining settlements. Being an Orctovan nation, it is rather militaristic. The organization of society is feudal outside of cities, and mercantilist/capitalist in the cities. Languages The lingua franca of Upper Mliza is known, unsurprisingly, as Upper Mlizan. Its classification is under the language family North Orctovan, in the Mlizan branch, North Mlizan sub-branch, and standardized in the late 2300s from the dialect continuum spoken in the Harrau region (UM: Xarau). Like other North Orctovan languages, it is rather agglutinative and primarily ergative in its alignment. It follows an SOV word order, making it strongly head-final. There are two main phonological areal features acting on the language: ejectives and pharyngealized vowels. The phonology of Upper Mlizan is thus (I will assume the territory names are what they are called by other nations, as many of them do not fit with this phonology): /m n ŋ/ /p’ p b t’ t d k’ k/ (orthography same as transcription) /ts’ ts dz tɬ’ tɬ/ /s z ɬ x/ /r l w/ /i iˤ u uˤ a aˤ/ UM follows a ©(J)V© syllable structure, where J=/r l w/. There are no diphthongs. A number of other North Mlizan languages are in the dialect continuum whence UM came. Most speakers in the free classes are bilingual in heir local dialect and UM, and many Orcish slaves also know the language. Other more distantly related languages exist, especially in trading hub cities. Upper Mlizan Orcish is the primary language Orcish slaves speak, however its classification as a language is something of a misnomer as Orcs, each slaving settlement kept separated from others, have seen their language diverge into local dialects, very often mutually unintelligible, in the centuries of their slavery. This has the result that often Orcish auxiliary units raised during wartime cannot communicate with their Orcish brothers, relying on ones who know UM. It is also classified as a Mlizan language with its own sub-branch, though very little research has gone into it due to its status as a slave language. Government Following a series of emperors in the 2300s who made some decisions that were extremely unpopular amongst the greater ruling class, the Emperor Tùałisak abdicated the imperial throne at the young age of 14 on the "advice" of his council. His father had died mysteriously in a slave ambush while traveling back to the capital only 2 months before. This council, composed of 8 heads of the most powerful aristocratic families in Upper Mliza, then began ruling the nation in 2372. Tùałisak was invited back at 19 years of age, both to prevent ties in the council and because his family still weld considerable political influence. Thus, the modern council is composed of nine lords (only four of whom are of the original families, due to political blunders and scheming) who vote on matters of state. This council is known as the High Council, and it has direct control over Xarau region and Upper Mliza. In each of the other regions, either a single ruler or a council, both subordinate to the High Council, decides on local matters, such as raising the local defense forces, taxing people, and maintaining roads. While the state is nominally a confederacy since 2374, in reality the centralization of power since then has made it more akin to a federation. Some provinces whose rulers are on good terms with the High Council have more autonomy than others. Military Military units can be divided into two categories in Upper Mliza: legionaries, the free citizens who volunteer to fight; and auxiliaries, the primarily Orcish volunteer forces who compose roughly 60% of the army. Auxiliaries that survive battle return to their homes with considerably more privileges than those who did not fight (for example, many ex-auxiliaries will be managing other slaves instead of working themselves when they return). All free male citizens must enter the military for one year at 19. As per the Military Edict of 2521, each province must be able to mobilize a minimum of 4% of their citizenry and 6% of slaves during wartime. This order is executed in most provinces via annual lists that dictate which citizen and slave volunteers will be called up to fight in a war. In most cases, the citizens will already be ready and in their legion, but slave volunteers do not have standing armies to prevent uprisings. Armies are organized locally in each province, though they will be under the command of the High Council during wartime. Auxiliary units are often commanded by older Auxiliaries, and Auxiliary units are expected to face the worst of attacks and defenses. Due to this, the death toll in Auxiliary units can be exceptionally high, up to 75% in some campaigns. Some provinces have been plagued by slave revolts since the early 2500s. These provinces are designated every decade by the High Council, and designated provinces must have a standing military force that patrols the province. It is also rumored that some Orcish slaves, primarily ex-auxiliaries, are recruited to report planning of such revolts by their kinsmen. However, though ex-auxiliaries are often recruited for espionage, they are also generally the leaders and fighting forces of revolts. The Upper Mlizan solution to these revolts is to brutally crush them, executing anyone involved in them, to discourage further activities of the sort. Even after they are crushed, guerrillas from revolts will often roam the countryside and agitate for years. The most affected provinces are in the far north where Orcish population far outnumbers citizenry. Economy The Upper Mlizan economy is primarily made up of, like most other nations in the time period, two sectors – primary (production of basic materials) and secondary (production of manufactured goods). The secondary production is confined to cities for the most part, while rural localities are confined to primary production. Orcish slaves do nearly all of the primary production, including but not limited to mining, farming, and collecting lumber and stone. Slaves are generally owned by slave owners, though local governments often own a relatively small number of slaves and they have the right to call upon privately owned slaves for war. Many slave settlements (mines, farms, etc.) are organized as such: the owner and family (for some larger settlements, this level also includes free citizens living and working in a village), the guards who keep watch on the slaves (primarily free citizens again, but some Orcish guards exist), slave organizers (both free citizens and high-ranking Orcs), and the slaves. Slave settlements range in size from small collections of buildings, distant from any other civilization, in the far north with only a dozen or so slaves, to massive plantations complexes in the south with even tens of thousands of slaves. While magic sees some use here by free citizens (especially in larger settlements for tasks such as strip mining), knowledge of magic is strictly forbidden to slaves by Confederacy laws On Magic § 34 (2417) and Slave Regulations § 11 (2551). The city economies mostly consume the material made in slave settlements and prepare it for general use or export. Magic is much widely used here for a variety of tasks. While Orcish slaves are used for some tasks, such as hauling N or building, they are overall much less common than in the countryside. A lot of businesses have recently begun experimenting with so-called factories where workers are taught basic magic in order to speed up and make more efficient production. Humans and Dwarves, being the majority races in Upper Mliza, are the main populations in cities. While there are some regulations on trade and business, and the taxing in cities is higher than for the countryside, the government for the most part leaves the economy to its own. Cities, being the trading hubs of Upper Mliza, have the most contact with the outside world. Though most trade in cities is Orctovan, some enterprising Western merchants and tradesmen also visit to sell their exotic wares and ply their specialist trades.